Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Has $178,000 Stock Position in OceanFirst Financial Corp. $OCFC

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans cut its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:OCFC) by 92.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,103 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock after selling 122,728 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in OceanFirst Financial were worth $178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 398,036 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $7,009,000 after buying an additional 11,646 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of OceanFirst Financial by 1.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,340,968 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock worth $23,614,000 after acquiring an additional 14,590 shares in the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter worth $5,182,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in OceanFirst Financial during the second quarter valued at $282,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in OceanFirst Financial by 124.5% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 89,374 shares of the savings and loans company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 49,571 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.98% of the company’s stock.

OceanFirst Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:OCFC opened at $19.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. OceanFirst Financial Corp. has a one year low of $14.29 and a one year high of $20.61. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $18.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.58 and a beta of 1.07.

OceanFirst Financial (NASDAQ:OCFC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The savings and loans company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.02. OceanFirst Financial had a net margin of 10.33% and a return on equity of 5.14%. The company had revenue of $104.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.20 million. Analysts anticipate that OceanFirst Financial Corp. will post 1.6 earnings per share for the current year.

OceanFirst Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. OceanFirst Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 68.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OCFC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson downgraded OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of OceanFirst Financial in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of OceanFirst Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.33.

OceanFirst Financial Profile

OceanFirst Financial Corporation (NASDAQ: OCFC) is a bank holding company headquartered in Toms River, New Jersey, that provides a full range of community banking and financial services through its principal subsidiary, OceanFirst Bank. Established in the early 20th century, the company has built its business around serving the deposit, lending and wealth management needs of individuals, small businesses, municipalities and nonprofit organizations across New Jersey and portions of New York.

The company’s core activities include accepting consumer and business deposits, making commercial, municipal and consumer loans, and offering residential mortgage financing.